What Is Print Advertising? 5 Reasons It Works

Most of today’s marketing efforts are focused on digital channels. From paid search to SEO to social media marketing and display ads, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to digital marketing.

And it’s a smart place to focus your efforts. After all, the average American spends more than three hours per day online, so it makes good sense to put together a comprehensive online marketing strategy.

But that doesn’t mean that print no longer has a place in the world. Quite the contrary, in fact — smart print advertising remains as effective as ever. And when you bring modern technology to your print campaigns, you can squeeze even greater ROI out of each and every one.

What is Print Advertising?

No, this is not some sort of trick post with a surprise twist. Print advertising is exactly what you think it is. These ads are run in newspapers, magazines, and trade publications.

They can vary from small boxes nestled alongside content to full-page spreads that stand on their own between stories or articles. Or they can be featured in print inserts or community circulars that accompany publications.

This tried-and-true advertising tactic has been around for centuries, but it remains an effective channel for reaching your desired audience.

5 Benefits of Print Advertising

Here are five reasons print advertising is still an effective marketing strategy today.

1. You Can Target Your Messaging

Don’t think that targeted advertising is only for digital channels. Getting specific about the publications you advertise in allows you to direct your messaging to the most relevant audience possible. If you run a local business, you can place ads in your city’s newspaper so that your neighbors learn about your brand.

You can also advertise in niche publications that speak to the population you hope to serve. For example, if you run a sporting goods store, you might want to run ads in a special section around golf.

2. You Can Seize a Captive Audience

Digital marketing is a necessity for any business hoping to succeed today, but it’s a crowded space. Anyone who’s spent time online knows that you’re inundated with banner ads, pop-ups, social media ads, paid search links, and email marketing campaigns each and every minute you’re online. After a while, you learn to tune out all the noise and focus only on the content you’re actually trying to read.

With print, it’s different. The reader of a magazine or newspaper has turned off their desktops and mobile devices and has settled down with a hard-copy publication. They’re ready to say goodbye to distractions and immerse themselves in the content.

If you’ve opted to run a print advertising campaign, then your content is part of the information they’re soaking in. And because they’re not toggling from website to website, being hit with marketing messaging everywhere they go, you have a much greater chance of getting your content seen and acknowledged.

3. You can Tell a Great Story

Great storytelling is what sets your brand apart from your competition. While it can be tough to communicate your story in a banner ad or paid search link, print gives you a little more leeway to get creative and show consumers who you really are.

Clever copywriting, engaging images, and messaging that’s targeted to the publication’s audience can all help you make a lasting impression in print. Plus, because your ad remains on the page rather than disappearing with a click of the mouse, you can leave a lasting impression if you nail your creative.

Related: See the best print ad examples to inspire your next campaign.

4. You Can Apply Modern Analytics

Perhaps you’ve been hesitant to give print a try because you love the ability to slice and dice your digital marketing data. Yes, you can capture a tremendous amount of information about your online marketing campaigns, but there are valuable metrics you can look at for print ads as well.

With print, you can still measure your results. In fact, we offer proprietary tracking technology that allows you to see exactly how your ad spend is working for you, so that you can adjust your approach going forward to guarantee the greatest ROI.

5. You Can Tie It to Your Digital Efforts

Print and digital marketing do not represent an either-or proposition. In fact, print works best when it’s integrated into your digital efforts.

When you create a print ad, you can include a link to your website. If your print ad is discussing a particular product or service, consider building a custom landing page for readers. It will take them to a page that’s focused specifically on that offer. This saves them from having to navigate all of your website, scanning for the content they read about in your print ad.

There are also ways to integrate technology directly into your print ad. Including a QR code makes it easy for readers to scan the code and head straight to your website without having to type in your URL. That eliminates the hassle for consumers and reduces the possibility of a typo in copying down your URL.

Get Started with Print Advertising

With all the talk today about digital marketing tactics, it can be easy to lose sight of print advertising. It might feel out-of-touch to place an ad in a newspaper or magazine, but while some might think of it as a dated approach, we’d call it classic. This marketing tactic has been working for centuries, and with the aid of modern technology and data analytics, it’s only grown stronger in the modern era.